Clasp.



E. GU'TMANN.

CLASP. APPLICATION FILED APR. 22. 1001.

PATENTED OCT. 8, 1907.

@nvenio'u EMIL GUTMANN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

CLASP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Qet. 8, 1907.

Application filed April 22, 1907. Serial No- 369.447.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EMIL- GUTMANN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, in the city and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Clasps, of which the following is a specification.

This present invention is directed to improvements in the construction, form and arrangement of the several parts of a clasp whereby the members are materially strengthened at the points where it is most needed, in which the clamping effect is improved between the two jaws of the clasp and in which the parts are so assembled that all liability of the parts to become displaced is obviated.

The form of clasp shown herein is one which is particularly well adapted for use in connection with garters or hose supporters.

A practical embodiment of my invention is represented in the accompanying drawings in which Figure I shows the clasp in top plan in its open position, Fig. 2 is a side view of the same, Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the clasp in its closed position, Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical central section through the clasp in its closed position, Fig. 5 is a similar section through the clasp in its open position, Fig. 6 is a view in perspective of the fixed jaw of the clasp, Fig. 7 is a view in perspective of the operating lever, and Fig. 8 is a view in perspective of the movable jaw of the clasp in its in verted position.

The fixed jaw of the clasp comprises a longitudinal bottom plate 1 having uprising side walls 2 and 3 extended also around the front end of the jaw. A loop 4 is provided at the rear end of the fixed jaw. The side walls Z'and 3 of the fixed jaw are provided with oppositelyarranged vertically-disposed ribs 5 and 6, preferably formed by stamping the side walls outwardly,' thus forming vertical interior grooves 7 and 8 for receiving the heads 9 and '10 of the rivet 11 which pivotally connects the movable jaw to the operating lever as will hereinafter more fully appear.

A socket piece 12 of yielding material is clamped to the front end of the fixed jaw 1, which socket piece is provided with a recess 13 arranged to receive a projection 14 in the free end of the movable jaw 15. This movable jaw 15 is provided around its sides and forward end, with a peripheral flange 16 which is developed at the rear end of the jaw into depending cars 17 and 18 arranged to fit between the sides 2 and 3 of the fixed jaw. This movable jaw 15 is pivoted to the fixed jaw by a rivet 19, which rivet passes through the side walls 2 and 3 of the fixed jaw and the ears l7 and 18 of the movable jaw. This movable jaw is provided with a tail piece 20 which rests upon the rivet 11 which pivots the operating lever 21 to the movable jaw. This operating lever 21 is provided with two depending lugs 22, 23, which fit between the ears 17, 18, and the tail piece 20 of the movable jaw. The rivet 11 passes through the ears 17, 18 and the lugs 22, 23, the heads 9 and 10 of the said rivet for permanently hinging the operating lever to the movable jaw, being fitted to travel in the vertical grooves 7 and 8 in the side walls 2 and 3 of the fixed jaw as hereinbefore stated. The bottoms of the lugs 22, 23 of the operating lever are flattened as shown and rest upon the fixed jaw when the operating lever is thrown forward and the movable jaw is opened. The operatf ing lever 21 is provided with a flattened portion 24 near its pivoted end, which flattened portion is a greater distance from the pivot 11 than the flattened bottoms of the lugs 22, 23, so that when the operating lever 21 is swung back into its rearward position with the flattened portion 24 of the lever in engagement with the fixed jaw, the pivot 11 will be raised and the movable jaw closed because of the engagement of its tail piece 20 with the said pivot. A spring 26 is coiled around the rivet 19, the branches of which spring engage the fixed and movable jaws, tending to normally hold the jaws open.

The inner end of the operating lever is provided with a transversely curved portion 25 which permits the end of the operating lever to slide readily along the fixed jaw when the operating lever is being swung from its forward to its rearward position.

By the improvements in structure herein described a clasp isiormed in which the over-lapping portions of the fixed jaw, movable jaw and operating lever are all brought into snug engagement with each other, the sides of the fixed jaw are reinforced by the ribs 6 and 7 at the point most needed, the said ribs also forming channels for the reception of the heads of the rivet which forms the pivotal connection between the movable jaw and the operating lever, thus permitting those parts to be permanently united and at the same time maintain the close over-lapping fit of the several parts as above stated.

What I claim is:

A clasp comprising a fixed jaw having upwardly extended side walls, vertically disposed ribs struck from the side walls forming grooves in their inner faces, a movable jaw hinged to the fixed jaw, the said movable jaw having depending ears, an operating lever having depending lugs, a rivet passing through said cars and lugs for pivotally connecting the operating lever and movable jaw, the heads of the said rivet being located in the grooves in the side walls of the fixed jaw.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signed my name in presence of two witnesses, this fifteenth day of April 1907.

EMIL GUTMANN.

Witnesses:

F. GEORGE BARRY, HENRY THIEME. 

